by Robert Cannady

Created on: November 21, 2010

Apple MacBook Air 11.6 Review

Its sexy.  When have you ever described your laptop as sexy? Apple’s latest refresh of its MacBook Air line has generated a fair amount of buzz, due in part to its alluring style, but also because its a dramatic departure from the “bigger is better” mantra. It proves that you can put an awful lot into a little space, and look good while you’re doing it. We’re talking, of course, about the new MacBook Air 11.6. Small, thin, smooth and just plain, well, sexy!

Let’s take a peek at the numbers. First and foremost has to be the 11.6 inch, high-resolution, LED-backlit screen. The 16:9 aspect ratio showcases the 1366x768 resolution. Fonts are small, but crisp, leading to the first ‘love it or hate it’ feature.  The smaller fonts allow for  more on-screen text, but have caused some users to trade their 11.6 inch models for the larger 13.3 inch model. Size matters, folks. And while the 11.6 screen size can be called sexy, it can also be called too small. You really need to spend 30 minutes or more with the 11.6 Air before committing to a long-term relationship.

Speaking of long term relationships, you better take a nice long look at RAM and storage. Are you ready to accept the standard 2GB RAM configuration, forever? Why forever? Apple has deemed it necessary to solder RAM to the motherboard, making future upgrades all but impossible. If the lack of future upgradability scares you, (and it should), spring for the 4GB model. I promise, you won’t regret the $100 up-charge. 

The 1.4ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor does an acceptable job handling most of what you ask of it. Love it or hate it, here’s the next decision point…Processor speed. Should you accept the base 1.4ghz processor or upgrade to the 1.6ghz Intel Core 2 Duo? Granted, the difference is negligible, but many are stepping up to the 1.6ghz version, because its worth it to max out your processing bandwidth. Some call this “future proofing”. I call it an investment.  Remember,  you can’t upgrade this spec later.

Storage memory is cheap. You can learn to live with 64 GB of SSD storage or plop down another $100 and double your storage to 128GB. Can you say “no brainer”?

My MacBook Air 11.6/1.6 ghz/4gb/128gb has handled everything I’ve thrown at it. Word processing, spreadsheets, email, web surfing and photo editing, all at the same time. All with no hiccups. It feels every bit as fast as the 13 inch 2.12 ghz MBPro I just sold. Actually, its faster, because we’re no longer forced to live with the 5400 rpm hard drives of yesteryear. Flash storage makes a much bigger difference in speed than most of us ever realized. 

As nice as it is, this computer isn’t for everyone. It’s not a suitable primary computer. It’s simply too anemic to serve all your needs, unless your needs are limited to email and web surfing.  This baby Mac shines in portability and makes every other Mac laptop feel like a bloated, overweight chunk of technology. Weighing in at only 2.3 lbs, this mac is ready to go anywhere you want to take it. 

I really wanted the $999 version met all my needs, but it doesn’t. The maxed out Air will set you back $1,399.00 plus applicable tax. Most Apple stores stock the maxed out model, as well as the base model, if that’s more in line with your budget. Just remember, whichever model you choose, you’re committing to a long-term relationship. Upgrade now, or forever hold your peace. 

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